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After His Star Turn, Martínez Exits Stage Left

ANAHEIM, Calif. - IF Harry Frazee were producing Broadway shows today, he could borrow from a couple of well-known musicals and stage "Hello, David" and "Bye Bye Pedro."

That, in a few sharps and flats, sums up the week that was, or the winter meetings that were, for the Boston Red Sox, a team that Frazee once owned and befouled, but that's an old and no longer relevant story.

The current tales of the Red Sox have them winning the World Series for the first time in 86 years, then doing weird things to reconfigure their championship team. Hello, David; bye bye, Pedro.

Although they have not announced it, the Red Sox have reached agreement with David Wells on a two-year contract that could pay him $18 million. Although the Mets had nothing to announce before their four-man contingent left yesterday afternoon, they departed knowing Pedro Martínez was prepared to accept their four-year, $56 million offer.

Martínez presumably could change his mind before signing a contract with the Mets, but the Red Sox don't expect him to be back with them for an eighth season and beyond, primarily because they don't intend to increase their three-year, $40.5 million offer. As a result, the Red Sox were told that Martínez was "leaning toward the National League and the Mets."

The critical question is whether they wanted Pedro, 33 years old with a questionable right shoulder, back. On the surface they gave the impression they did, but based on their negotiations with him, they either didn't want to re-sign him or if they did, they were too cocky about their chances or naïve.

Larry Lucchino, the team's chief executive, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the Red Sox would be "keenly disappointed" if they lost Martínez, citing his "gigantic contribution" to the club during the last seven years and saying that he was certain to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Even championship teams make changes in their next season's roster. Sometimes they feel they have to because championships lead to significant increases in their payrolls. In other instances, they bring in new players to guard against complacency. The Red Sox, whose payroll this year was eclipsed only by that of the Yankees, wouldn't have a problem with their payroll, but they want to pay for value received.

For example, they are trying to sign Edgar Renteria to be their shortstop, believing he is better than their shortstop, Orlando Cabrera, who is also a free agent. Both players would cost a lot of money, so if they are going to have to pay for a shortstop, they may as well try for the one they like better.

In Martínez's case, if they didn't want him back, especially at his price, the Red Sox would not reveal their candid thoughts because they wouldn't want to insult him or alienate his fans. But the Red Sox had a no-competition opportunity to sign him.

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In the 15-day filing period immediately after the World Series, the Red Sox were the only team that could have signed Martínez. During that time, Martínez told the team what he wanted -- three years for $40.5 million, or an average of $13.5 million a year. If Kevin Brown could get $15 million a year for seven years six years ago, Martínez reasoned, he should be able to get three years at $13.5 million a year now.

The Red Sox didn't believe any other team would give Martínez what he wanted. They also didn't believe he would leave them. They made no immediate offer. When they finally made one, it was for two years and an option for a third year for $25.5 million. Their dawdling gave the Mets an opening.

As the Red Sox took their time, the Mets jumped in. Omar Minaya, the Mets' aggressive general manager and a fellow Dominican, told Martínez about the advantage of pitching in the N.L. Whereas his effective ceiling of 100 pitches might get him through six innings in the American League, it could get him an extra inning in the National.

Minaya was also offering a better deal -- three years for $37.5 million. If there was any indication that the Red Sox wanted to retain Martínez, it might have come last week when they guaranteed -- reluctantly -- the third year and added an option for a fourth year. That was more years and more money than the Red Sox wanted to give him, but it was there for him to take.

But the Mets weren't finished. They indicated that they would be willing to guarantee the fourth year and took that step during the weekend at the winter meetings. The Red Sox, reluctant to go three years, were uncomfortable making it four.

"It's no secret we're trying to keep Pedro, but we have to do it in a way that makes sense for the club," General Manager Theo Epstein told Boston reporters before leaving the site of the meetings.

A year ago, the Red Sox did what they felt made sense for the club. When the Red Sox were trying to obtain Alex Rodriguez from Texas, they negotiated with Rodriguez to alter his contract. But when the players union refused to let Rodriguez devalue the contract by $28 million and proposed $13 million instead, the Red Sox rejected the plan and dropped their efforts to get Rodriguez, who wound up with the Yankees.

It's open to debate which team benefited from the Red Sox' resistance to paying more money than they wanted that time.

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A version of this article appears in print on December 14, 2004, on Page D00001 of the National edition with the headline: On Baseball; After His Star Turn, Martínez Exits Stage Left. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe